Seahawks' Wagner: Manning has 'to feel us'

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Bobby Wagner isn't the most talkative player on the Seattle Seahawks roster.

He's certainly not the one the media has talked about during the week leading up to Super Bowl XLVIII on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

As the Seahawks wrapped up their media obligations Thursday before putting in their final workout inside the Giants' facility at nearby East Rutherford on Friday, the Seahawks linebacker had a lot to say about why the NFL's No. 1 defense will beat Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos' No. 1 offense.

“This is something we've been looking forward to. Us being the No. 1 defense, them being the No. 1 offense, I think it's fitting,” Wagner said. “This is our time to prove why we're the No. 1 defense.”

Beating the No. 1 offense means shutting down Manning, who has had the best season statistically of any quarterback in NFL history.

“They do a great job protecting him, but that's what we've got to do,” Wagner said. “We've got to get him off his spot. We've got to hit him, and we feel we've got the players that can do something.

“We're very loose right now. We don't ever get tight. We pride ourselves in being loose and being relaxed and just coming out and playing the game and having fun. And entertaining, because we are entertainers.”

Is there a formula for stopping Manning, his receiving corps and running back Knowshon Moreno?

Advertisement

“We've got to create a lot of turnovers, especially against a team like this,” Wagner said. “They're very good at what they do. That's why they're No. 1.

“We're going to get a lot of turnovers. That's just what we do. We cause havoc when we're on the field.”

But what's the key to stopping Manning?

“I think it takes a little bit of everything. You've got to get him off his spot. You've got to hit him,” Wagner said. “You've just got to make him feel you.

“You can't give a quarterback like that time to sit back and throw the ball, because he's going to do a good job at it. Bring pressure in his face. We've got to get him off his spot, and at the end of the day when he walks off that field, he's got to feel us.”

As much as Manning's arm is Denver's big offensive weapon, the run game is potent, too.

“A lot of people sleep on their running game. They run the ball a lot of plays,” Wagner said. “They run around 70 or 80 plays a game, but 30 of them are run plays.

“The teams that struggle with them are the teams that forget they do have a run game. I think Knowshon does a great job when he's out there. He runs really, really hard. We've got to make sure we do a great job of containing him and helping out in the pass.”

Why is Jersey-bred Moreno so effective?

“I think he's more of an inside runner,” Wagner said. “(Montee) Ball does a little bit more of the outside running, but Knowshon runs really, really hard and he's good at cutting. If you give him the outside, he can take it.”

Wagner says the NFL's best defense has all the answers to shut down the best offense Sunday and fly back to Seattle on Monday with the Vince Lombardi Trophy in their grasp.